Insert template for a label making machine

ABSTRACT

A template has a tab portion in which a special character is formed. The template is insertable into the tape discharge opening of a label-making machine and the tab is positioned in an image-forming station at which the special character is formed on an ultraviolet light sensitive label material when the machine is operated.

United States Patent 1191' Mrozek 1 1451 Sept. 17, 1974 INSERT TEMPLATEFOR A LABEL MAKING MACHINE [75] Inventor: James M. Mrozek, Milwaukee,Wis.

[73] Assignee: W. H. Brady Company, Milwaukee, 1

Wis.

[22] Filed: July 25, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 382,510

52 US. c1 95/43 R [51] Int. Cl B4lb 17/22 [58] .Field of Search 95/475[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,334,541 11/1943 Bumstead95/45 OBrien 95/4.5

Heuser 95/45 Primary ExaminerJohn M. Horan Attorney, Agent, orFirmQuarles & Brady [57] ABSTRACT I A template has a tab portion inwhich a special character is formed. The template is insertable into thetape discharge opening of a label-making machine and the tab ispositioned in an image-forming station at which the special character isformed on an ultraviolet light sensitive label material when the machineis operated..

3 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures 1" INSERT TEMPLATE FOR A LABEL MAKINGMACHINE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The field of the invention istemplates vused to form images on ultraviolet light sensitivelabelmaterials. More specifically,the invention relates to insert templates for use with disc-shaped templates such-as'that shown inthecopending patent application Ser. No. 226,707 entitled Disc forLabel-Making Machine and Method of Manufacture which are used in compactlabel-making machines such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,698,296entitled Actinic Label-'Making Tool.

Label-making machinessuch as that disclosed in the.

above cited patent operatetoform characters, or images, on apressuresensitive adhesive tape-by exposing the surface of the tape toultraviolet light which passes through atemplate having the desiredimage formed therein. The template includes a large selection of suchcharacters, and'it is bonded toa rigid support-member to-form a disc.The label-making machine includes a manually operable mechanism whichengagesthe disc and provides ameans to position one of the characters inan image-forming station beneath the ultraviolet light source. Astandard disc which is typically provided with the-machine includes aselection of characters which are chosen because of their wideapplicability and may, for .example, include the letters of thealphabet, numbers and punctuation marks. However, usersoftenhave-specific characters,such as company logos and symbols, whichthey'use on their labels, and although it is possible to alter theselection of. characters on a standard disc to meet "thespeciflcrequirements of each user, this approach is economically less practicalto allbut-those users'whopossess a relatively large number oflabel-making-machines.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION erly positioned between theultraviolet'lightsource and label material to orient-the resulting imageon the label.

A general object of' the inventionis toqprovidean insert template whichmaybe-manually inserted into a label-making machine to form a character:on-the sensitized label material. The insert is 'formed from an opaquesheet of'heat conductive material which is bonded to a sheetoftransparent backing material. The character is "formed "by =removingportions of the opaquev heat conductive material andthe periphery of theinsert template isshaped tofit into the opening in the label-makingmachine. A handle portion is formed so that the insert templatemay beeasily-inserted and removed from the image-formingrstation, and :means.are provided to guide the insert template into arblank.

Another object of the invention is to adapt a labelmaking machine andassociated disc to receive an insert template. Thedisc iscformed bybonding a sheet of 'heat conductive material and associated-transparentbacking material to a rigid support member which is preferably made of astrong, light weight material. A band of windows are formed in the rigidsupport member and a character isfonned in the sheet of heat conductivematerial directly beneath each window. The blank position is' formed inthe disc'by removing a portion of the heat conductive sheet material andassociated backing material beneath one of the windows. .When the blankis rotated into the image-forming station beneath the light source, theinsert template may be inserted into the cut away portion and guidedthereby to properly align the character formed'on the insert beneath thewindow in the rigid support member.

Another object of the invention is to provide a relativelyinexpensive-means of forming selected characters on label material.Instead of replacing the standard disc with one which is adapted to suitthe particular needs of each user, a blank is formed in each standarddisc and a relatively inexpensive insert template is provided. Each'usermay, therefore, have his own particular logo or symbol formed on theinsert template instead of purchasing a custom made disc.

The-foregoing and other objects and advantages of the-invention willappear from the 'followingdescription. In the description reference ismade to the accompanyingdrawings which form apart hereof, and in whichthere is shown by way of illustration a preferred embodiment of theinvention. Such embodiment does not necessarily represent the full scopeof the invention, however, and it is anticipatedthat changes canbe-madeto the described embodiment that will be .within the scope of thepresent invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is aside elevation view of thelabel-making machine to which the present invention is applied,

FIG. 2 is a partial side view of the machine in FIG. lwithparts cut awayto show'the image-forming station therein,

FIG. 3 is a partial top view of the machine in'FIG. 1' with parts cutaway to show the relationship of the insert template and disc when theinsert template. is positioned in the image-forming station,

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of a portion of the disc which illustrates theinserttemplate positioned in the'blank .position, and

FIG. 5 is a cross section of the inventedinsert template.

DESCRIPTION OF THEPREFERRED EMBODIMENT tronic circuitry and mechanicaldrive system necessary "for performing thelabel-making process disclosedin the above cited U.S. Pat; The ultraviolet light sensitive tapeisstored in a cartridge whichis mounted inside the housing-1 and, aslabels aremade, the tape '3jisauto- -matically advanced through animage-forming station and out of an opening in the side of the housing,indicated generally as 4. A cutoff mechanism is mounted to the side ofthe housing 1 and as the tape 3 is advanced from the image-formingstation it passes through the cutoff mechanism 5 where it is cut to thedesired length by depressing a cutoff lever 6.

Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the label-making machine includes a tapeadvance wheel 7 which is mounted to the back side of the housing 1 andwhich connects through a drive shaft 8 to a tape feed drive wheel 9. Thedrive wheel 9 bears against the bottom surface of the tape 3 andprovides a means of manually advancing it. A spacing selector wheel 10mounts to the front side of the housing 1 and it connects through anautomatic feed drive mechanism (not shown in the drawings) to the driveshaft 8. The feed drive mechanism automatically advancesthe tape 3 eachtime the image-forming process is initiated by an amount determined inpart by the setting of the spacing selector wheel 10 and in-part by thelength of the proportional spacing slot. Finally, a character selectorknob 11 is rotatably mounted to the label-making machine and extendsupward through an opening in the cover 2, and it iscoupled to a disc 12which is identical to that disclosed in the above cited copending patentapplication. The disc 12 is mounted directly beneath the cover 2 and itincludes a template having a selection of characters formed in a bandaround its periphery. By rotating the character selector knob 11, one ofthese characters is positioned in an image-forming station directlyabove the sensitized tape 3. An operating lever 13 is pivotally mountedto the side of the housing 1, and when depressed, it initiates theimage-forming process.

The image-forming process is a timed exposure of the top surface of thesensitized tape 3 to ultraviolet light. The light is generated by alight source 14 which is located directly above the image-formingstation in an enclosure 15 which has a rectangular opening 16 formed init directly beneath the light source 14. The disc 12 bears against thebottom surface of the enclosure 15 and the character to be formed isaligned in the image-forming station directly beneath the opening 16.The tape 3 is dispensed from its cartridge by the tape feed drive wheel9 and passes beneath the disc 12 through the image-forming station.During normal operation, the disc 12 is rotated to orient a selectedcharacter in'the image-forming station, however, when the inserttemplate is to be used, a blank, or cut away portion of the disc 12 isrotated into the image-forming station.

As disclosed in the above-cited copending application, the disc is madefrom a relatively thick aluminum support member 17 in which windows areformed in a band around its periphery. A template 18 formed of a sheetof brass bonded to a sheet of transparent backing material is bonded tothe underside of the support member 17. The blank portion is formed inthe disc 12 by cutting away a portion of the template 18 beneath onewindow by making a pair of radial cuts. The blank portion thus includesa pair of spaced, radially directed side edges 19 which are to serve asguideways for the insert template.

The insert template indicated generally by the reference number 20 isformed by bonding a mask 21 made of a sheet of heat conductive materialsuch as brass to a sheet of transparent backing material 22 such as afluorocarbon polymer. The thickness of the mask 21,

backing material 22 and an adhesive 23 are chosen such that the totalthickness of the insert template 20 is substantially the same as thethickness of the template 18 on the disc 12. In the preferredembodiment, both the mask 21 and backing material 22 are 5 mils thick.

The insert template 20 is constructed by first applying a layer ofpressure sensitive adhesive 23, such as a vinyl-acrylic adhesive, to asheet of backing material 22. A liquid or dry film photo resist 24 isthen applied to the top surface of the brass sheet 21 and the'backingmaterial 22 is bonded to its bottom surface. The resulting laminate isplaced under a photographic film (not shown) with the photo resist sideof the brass sheet 21 in direct contact with the emulsion side of thefilm; A vacuum is applied and the brass is then exposed to light. Theexposed surface is developed and submersed in an etchant such as ferricchloride which removes those portions of the brass sheet which are notprotected by the developed photo resist. The outline and the desiredspecial character are thus formed and the insert template 20 iscompleted by cutting away the selvage material.

The shape of the insert template 20 is designed to facilitate itsinsertion into and removal from the imageforming station and to properlylocate the character formed therein beneath the light source 14. Morespecifically, the character is formed on a tab portion 25 which isdefined by a pair of tapered margins 26 that engage the guideways 19when the insert template 20 is fully inserted. Also, the insert template20 includes a handle portion 27 which is substantially wider than thetab 25 to both facilitate handling of the insert template 20 and todefine a pair of bearing edges 28. The bearing edges 28 are disposed toeither side of the tab portion 25, and when the insert template 20 isproperly positioned, the bearing edges 28 engage the outer surface ofthe cutoff mechanism 5 to limit further motion. The tab 25 is thuspositioned within the blank formed on the disc 12 and in bearingengagement with the underside of the aluminum support member 17. Theproper circumferential alignment of the character is insured by theoriginal mating engagement of the tapered margins 26 with the guideways19, while the proper radial alignment is insured by the engagement ofthe bearing edges 28 with the cutoff mechanism 5.

It should be apparent to those skilled in the art that a number ofvariations can be made in the preferred embodiment of the inventiondescribed and shown herein without departing from the spirit of theinvention. For example, the handle portion 27 need not extend laterallyon both sides of the tab portion 25, but instead, may extend in onedirection to provide one bearing edge 28. Also, the handle portion 27may include additional layers of material to provide further rigidityand durability.

I claim:

' 1. In a label-making machine which includes a template having aplurality of characters and a blank portion, a mechanism for selectivelypositioning said characters in an image-forming station, an ultravioletlight source, and means to feed label material through the image-formingstation for forming an image on said label material, the improvementcomprising:

an insert template that is manually insertable into said image-formingstation when the blank portion of the disc is positioned in theimage-forming station, said insert template including:

a tab portion which is of substantially the same thickness as saidtemplate and which includes a special character formed therein and asheet of heat conductive metal bonded to a sheet of transparentfluorocarbon polymer backing material and portions of said heatconductive metal sheet are removed to form said special character; and

a handle portion which is substantially wider than said tab portion todefine a bearing edge which engages said label-making machine when thecharacter formed on said tab portion is fully inserted in removed by anetching process.

1. In a label-making machine which includes a template having aplurality of characters and a blank portion, a mechanism for selectivelypositioning said characters in an image-forming station, an ultravioletlight source, and means to feed label material through the image-formingstation for forming an image on said label material, the improvementcomprising: an insert template that is manually insertable into saidimageforming station when the blank portion of the disc is positioned inthe image-forming station, said insert template including: a tab portionwhich is of substantially the same thickness as said template and whichincludes a special character formed therein and a sheet of heatconductive metal bonded to a sheet of transparent fluorocarbon polymerbacking material and portions of said heat conductive metal sheet areremoved to form said special character; and a handle portion which issubstantially wider than said tab portion to define a bearing edge whichengages said labelmaking machine when the character formed on said tabportion is fully inserted in said image-forming station.
 2. Thestructure as recited in claim 1 in which the blank portion in saidtemplate is formed with a pair of spaced radial side edges which defineguideways, and the margins of the tab portion are tapered to engage andmate with the guideways when the insert template is properly inserted insaid image-forming station.
 3. The structure as recited in claim 2 inwhich said heat conductive metal is brass and the portions thereof whichare removed to form said special character are removed by an etchingprocess.